1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and systems which input one or a plurality of a person's physical characteristics for comparison with stored data to authenticate the identity of an individual.
2.Description of the Prior Art
Apparatus are known which use biometrics for security procedures, identification, access control, and such apparatus are disclosed in the following patents:
U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) 4,821,118 Lafreniere 4,993,068 Piosenka et al. 5,594,806 Colbert 5,680,205 Borza 5,717,776 Watanabe 5,787,186 Schroeder 5,793,881 Stiver et al. 5,815,252 Price-Francis 5,862,247 Fisun et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,118 to Lafreniere discloses a video image system for personal identification consisting of observing a unique part of the person's anatomy along with the person's ID card and appearance and storing images of those observations for review and comparison with other records.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,068 to Piosenka et al. discloses an unforgeable personal identification system consisting of a portable memory device (credit card size) on which are stored identification credentials such as facial photo, retina scan, voice and fingerprints. At a remote access control site, the user presents the portable memory device and the encrypted identification credentials and then submits physically to imputing the physical identification characteristics, e.g. fingerprints, whereby comparisons performed to determine whether to allow or deny access to a remote site.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,806 to Colbert discloses a knuckle profile identification system in which a user inserts an ID card to retrieve the template from the card of his knuckle profile for comparison against the actual knuckle profile.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,205 to Borza discloses a fingerprint imaging apparatus with auxiliary lens.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,717,776 to Watanebe discloses a certification card producing apparatus and certification card consisting of an input for an identification number of an old identification card, including a retina image of an owner, and an eyesight test means for judging whether the owner is genuine by collating the old retina image and the present retina image supplied.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,186 to Schroeder discloses a biometric security process for authenticating identity and credit cards, visas, passports and facial recognition, consisting of an identity card where pre-printed colored ink filigrees and the face images have been transferred by a procedure onto the card. The holder of the card is then scanned or videoed. The facial image can then be transmitted on conventional telecommunication lines to a remote computer which reconstructs the initial face image.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,881 to Stiver et al. discloses an identification system consisting of a detection object which is grasped by a hand for detecting characteristics of the hand and comparing the unique characteristics of those previously recorded and stored in memory. The object can be a handle at a secure facility or even a weapon.
In many of the known security systems, a user must correctly enter both an assigned user ID number and a password. This is frustrating for both users and systems support personnel. There is also an increase in total costs of system ownership and maintenance. Many of the companies employing such systems permit the user identification number assigned to the last user logged onto a particular personal computer (PC) to be a default entry in the user ID entry field. This is the default configuration setting which, for example, the Windows 98 and Windows NT install in such systems. This is a major security breach of such systems. In addition, the user must remember both his ID and password and in many instances, the user has a plurality of ID's and passwords for different systems. For example, a distinct ID number and password are used for network access, for data base access, for E-mail, for main frames, etc. Keying in all this data provides for an increased opportunity for another individual to observe the passwords being entered to breach the system. In addition, "hackers" can "sniff" a network wire and capture un-encrypted passwords. In more sophisticated theft situations, "trojan horse" type viruses can be used to capture a user ID number and password that have been entered. That is, the user thinks he is logging on as usual, but the dialogue he is entering this information into is really a look-alike type log on screen that is capturing his key strokes.
The foregoing description of some of the known systems shows the weakness and vulnerability such systems have to being corrupted and compromised.
Among other systems, some of which are disclosed in the patents discussed above, a user may provide a biometric finger print to a reader device to be compared against data on a smart card to also be inserted into the device. This type of system requires the user to enter his user ID and password and provide his finger for a finger print scanner. The image of the finger print is then transmitted to the server along with a scanned image of the finger that was placed on the scanner and verified to be a match. If there is a match, the log on process will proceed as normal with the validation of the user ID and password. However, the information is still being communicated to a server and therefore, the potential for compromising system security is increased, as was discussed above. Since these readers provide no first level authentication prior to sending any data out over the wire whether to the locally connected PC or over the LAN (local area network), there is an increased potential for security risk to the system.
The systems described above are "polling-type systems". The known systems continuously monitor card readers that are attached to the particular PC to see if an identity card has been inserted. The constant querying of the readers requires a lot of computer and mechanical support of the host PC. This in turn requires a significant amount of PC central processing unit (CPU) time and physical memory in order for the system to function. In today's corporate world, a server PC that communicates with tens or perhaps hundreds of readers, requires a significant overhead, which is why systems available now use a dedicated PC for these functions. In other words, a desk top PC which has one reader attached will lose a lot of valuable CPU cycles and memory while continually asking or polling the reader if a card is inserted.
However, the apparatus and systems disclosed above call for comparing input data for identification against a multiplicity of data from perhaps as many as millions of individuals. The systems above also transceive information, whether by wire or wirelessly, to remote locations which permits unauthorized access to or theft of the information that is transmitted or received.
For example, a criminal (hacker) could try to defeat or compromise an ID card in much the same way as described in the "trojan horse" example. That is, a fake component is not the log on screen but the reader itself. A criminal could install a "look-alike" reader as an ATM for example. A cardholder then inserts his card into this fake reader. If communication were allowed to the reader prior to authentication, the hacker could then attempt to read from or "pull" information from the card, such as in this example, the card holder's fingerprint template, this live scan of their fingerprint, their bank account(s) numbers, as well as all other confidential information on the card. Additionally, the hacker could infect the card with a virus that would then be propagated to other systems the cardholder would later access.
In contrast, the present invention provides for an open, stand-alone system which does not waste valuable PC memory and CPU cycles and does not communicate with external sources so as to prevent theft of user's information.
It would therefore be desirable to have an authentication system and apparatus which only initiates a one-to-one comparison with biometrics of a single user against stored data on an identification card, so that the system is not required to review information from a multiplicity of other persons and be vulnerable to theft.
It is also desirable to have an authentication apparatus and system that does not require communication with a remote location or external source, whether transmitted by wire or wirelessly, to authenticate the individual or the identity.
It is also desirable to have a reader for the system as a stand-alone component where no communications are permitted into or out of the reader until a positive authentication occurs. This greatly enhances the security of the system and network from unauthorized access.